Can a Match/Competition Grade AR-15 be built for $700? Aero Precision M4E1 Build Review

Today we’re going to build an AR-15 on a budget and prove that with a little patience and elbow grease, you can build a competitive shooting sports worthy rifle on a very tight budget.

Complete Review and Parts Build List: https://crackshot.tv/aero-precision-parts-review-best-ar-15-build-on-a-budget/

To be clear, this isn’t budget build isn’t the only way to skin the cat, but its a great example of what kind of quality you can get on a tight budget in this era of affordable gun parts.

Most of the parts in this build are primarily going to be Aero Precision / Ballistic Advantage parts, so big thanks to Aero Precision and Ballistic Advantage for making great quality rifle part at a price anyone can afford.

Lower Receiver – M4E1 (MSRP $106, I paid $80 on sale)
The lower receiver is the part of the rifle that requires a background check, so if you buy this part online you’ll have to have it shipped to your local FFL. There most likely will be additional transfer fees going this route (usually between $15 to $40 on the high end).

Buffer Tube – Aero Precision Heavy Buffer Kit (MSRP $59.99, purchase on sale for $40)
Because this is a competitive shooting build, I chose a heavy buffer kit, as a heavier buffer can reduce felt recoil, although it can affect the timing of the gun. The aero precision kit is great as it makes the rifle quite a bit more pleasant to shoot.

Lower Parts Kit (Aero Precision w/o Fire Control Group MSRP $34.99)
Because this is a competitive shooting build, we’ll want to pick out our trigger separately. Lower parts kits that don’t include the fire control group tend to be cheaper since it includes mainly the bare essentials to construct the lower without the trigger mechanism. We were able to save some money here rather than buying the full kit with mil spec trigger and throwing the mil spec trigger in a tool box later.

Stock – B5 Systems Bravo – MSRP ~$50
The B5 systems stock is my favorite because of its solid construction and solid cheek weld. This is the more budget version of their B5 Systems SOPMOD stock.

Trigger – Aim Surplus SSTAT Trigger – $80
For this build, I wanted a single stage trigger since for competitive shooting, specifically 2 Gun and 3 Gun, targets generally aren’t more than 100-200 yards away, so its less about precision and more about speed.

Grip – Magpul MOE+ $20
For the grip, I purchased the Magepul MOE+. I love the rubbarized grip as it is very comfortable for shooting, and it just fits my hand naturally and well.

Upper – Aero Precision M4E1 Upper (Slick Side) – MSRP $115
I chose the Aero Precision M4E1 upper because this is an incredibly high quality upper for the price. It fits perfectly with the M4E1 lower and it looks great.

Bolt Carrier Group – Palmetto State Armory Nitride BCG – MSRP $119 – $60 on sale
There’s no need to get fancy here. Sure, lighter, smoother bolt carrier groups exist, but we’re trying to keep the price of this rifle very low.

Charging Handle – Radian Raptor BLEM – On Sale $65
Your rifle is only as good as the quality of your charging handle if you have a failure / stoppage. Most charging handles that come with cheap rifles you can bend in half with your arms, so I don’t trust them to perform in competition if there is a failure of any kind.

Barrel – Ballistic Advantage Stainless Steel Match Grade Barrel MSRP $175 – ($137.50 – On Sale)
The barrel is where you really want to spend your money. Stainless steel is important and it provides the best accuracy and consistency. Its important to note that it does wear faster, but we’re still talking after tens of thousands of rounds. If we’re building a rifle for primarily competitive shooting, but we also may want to use it for precision rifle matches, stainless steel is absolutely the way to go.

Gas Block and Gas Tube – Aero Precision MSRP $30
Because my budget didn’t allow, I went cheap with a basic gas tube and gas block for $30. If I could redo this, I would have spent less on the trigger above (going with Schmid) and would have spent the extra money here, on an adjustable gas block to really tune the rifle for my ammo.

Handguard – Aero Precision Quantum – On Sale $100
I chose the aero precision quantum because it the cheapest, basic but solid, 15″ handguard available for this price. This handguard is very basic, but it is very solid.

Muzzle Device – VG6 Epsilon MSRP $89.99 – On Sale $34.99
The VG6 is awesome. It’s an incredibly high quality muzzle device and it does a great job of mitigating felt recoil.

Final Build Cost $720
So overall we have a rifle that can perform on par with premium, $1200+ AR-15s, but for a price that comes in cheaper than an off the shelf Smith and Wesson M&P Sport or the Ruger 556.

We have an incredibly smooth shooting, reliable, and accurate AR-15 that shoots 1MOA all day long.